CHARLOTTE, N.C., April 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) today announced its participation in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Natural Gas STAR Methane Challenge program as a Founding Partner. The voluntary program is a collaborative effort between the EPA and the natural gas industry and is designed to provide a transparent platform for partners such as Piedmont to make, track, and promote commitments to voluntarily reduce methane emissions. Thirty-seven natural gas utilities nationwide are participating as Founding Partners in the program.

Jane Lewis-Raymond, Piedmont's Senior Vice President and Chief Legal, Compliance, and External Relations Officer commented on Piedmont's participation, "Piedmont's commitment to the environment and to incorporating sustainability into all of our business practices extends far beyond a strategic directive for our company; importantly, it is one of our core values and drives everything we do. Our participation in this program is another indication of that commitment and also enables us to build on our ongoing commitment to public safety."

Piedmont's own focus through the STAR Methane Challenge will be in the area of reducing methane emissions that result from third party excavation damages to the Company's natural gas pipeline delivery system. Piedmont has committed to develop a plan to reduce such emissions within five years by evaluating its ongoing damage prevention programs and identifying areas of process improvement. Piedmont will submit its five-year plan to the EPA in the coming months.

More information about Piedmont's commitment to the environment and its sustainability efforts can be found by visiting the Company's website at www.piedmontng.com.

About Piedmont Natural Gas

Piedmont Natural Gas is an energy services company primarily engaged in the distribution of natural gas to more than one million residential, commercial, industrial and power generation customers in portions of North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, including customers served by municipalities who are wholesale customers. Our subsidiaries are invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including unregulated retail natural gas marketing, regulated interstate natural gas transportation and storage, and intrastate natural gas transportation businesses. More information about Piedmont Natural Gas is available on the Internet at http://www.piedmontng.com/.